


Heart is where the meat is

by kusattame



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Luffy Being Luffy, M/M, Oblivious Monkey D. Luffy, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-05 23:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14629149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kusattame/pseuds/kusattame
Summary: Without any resistance or difficulty, he took the heart out and held it gently. Taking hearts out was much easier than falling asleep for him, no matter how strong the person in front of him was. He shuddered with sudden rush of adrenaline through his body, he was holding the future within his slender fingers.How far will this boy go until someone squeeze this heart, squeeze it with ugly betrayal, squeeze it with just pure hate? Won’t he ever regret that he trust so easily?His eyes were glinting playfully. Law wanted to see those lights fading down, with utter shock and regret. He wanted to teach him a lesson so that he won’t be this reckless anymore, so that he can be alert and ask himself before trusting someone: What if…





	Heart is where the meat is

It was quite a normal dinner, as normal as it could be with Strawhats and his own crew combined, and Law was feeling light, the closest thing to the happiness on his part. Doflamingo, the very devil that haunted him throughout the last fifteen years, the walking-nightmare on this already fucked up world, was finally behind the railings made of sea stone. He had planned everything, yes, analysing the power of every straw hat up close, than comparing them to the ones of Doflamingo, counting even the tiniest bits of details, but it was hard to believe that all his fears dissolved within a day, all thanks to the most powerful rookie beside him.

The fellow captain was reckless and oddly dependable at the same time. He carried the will of the worst blood, yet he was stealing the role of the sun itself, his bare existence was enough to warm things up in the most positive way. He glanced at the boy who seemed too busy with stealing food from the others. It was just a quick glance, didn't even waver or wasn't long enough to raise any suspicions but the said captain stopped abruptly to return the glance, and the sudden change of his mood caused all of their crew mates to look at them. It was the moment that the most feared rookie, the only captain to beat the crap out of three warlords, and conquer the hearts of the rest somehow, dropped another bomb in their roller-coaster-of-a-life.

"Here," he put a huge piece of meat in front of Law, smiling all the while without batting an eyelid, "You can have this."

An awkward silence settled in otherwise crazy atmosphere. Law gulped nervously, not really pleased that he was at the centre of the attention. Strawhat captain seemed nonchalant, innocent even, with his round, observant eyes and gentle smile. Law knew he should decide his next action carefully, not because of the curious eyes around them but because of the intense, expectant look in Luffy's eyes. He offered something of top importance to Law, and he was watching carefully the surgeon's every move. Something heavy settled down on his gut, like all the words around the world tied together and rolled down his throat, he didn't know how to unfold them, how to pick out the right ones. Was this the burden of the king? Did all of the Strawhats shoulder this strange weight? Fuck, he needed some time, preferably away from these firm set eyes.

"DOCTOR!"

The first one to come his rescue was the little reindeer with a high pitched cry. "Someone bring doctor- Luffy! Luffy hurt his head!" 

Robin let out an amused chuckle, "It seems like Torao-san managed to be the only person to get under the captain's skin."

"Bastard- wh-what did you do t-to him?" the sniper demanded, had already taken out his Kabuto despite the visible tremble of his whole body.

"Luffy…" the Cyborg and the Navigator were crying silently.

"Oi…" Sanji started in a gravely tone, "Remember the thing I asked back in Loguetown?"

Zoro answered within a breath "Yes, about believing in Gods or whatsoever. I do believe now. God can move the mountains, and the skies."

"And Luffy's heart, obviously."

"What about my heart?" the rubber captain faced the duo, finally letting Law to breathe.

"Luffy, you see," Nami smiled and spoke gently as if talking to a toddler, "It's Law's plate so if you drop your meat down there by accident-"

"I give it to Torao," Luffy snapped and patted Law on the back, "He deserves it, he's a good guy."

What followed his words was an absolute havoc. Zoro and Sanji were half fighting, half trying to figure out if they angered any deity other than that crazy bastard Enel. Brook and Robin were both laughing, one to his own joke about not having any heart to be moved, one to the cries of her nakama. 

Nami was shaking Luffy's shoulders, Chopper and Usopp were trying to get Franky to develop a weapon against Law's underestimated powers.

His own crew kept on eating, not breaking their respective silence.

Law created a room and teleported himself out of the circus. He'd have to give an answer to Luffy at some point and to be honest, he had no idea how to prove that he's worth all the trouble. 

Heads of hundred pirates were enough for the government.

His pure strength was enough to gather his crew.

There was always a way to satisfy one's needs, he managed to survive twenty six years by providing specific people with their specific needs. So why was it so hard to do the same with the straw hat captain?

Monkey D. Luffy, eighteen, had probably had everything he wanted. He was the type to get whatever he want in an instant. His mind was, unfortunately, did not function properly when it came to long term wishes, other than his ambition to become the pirate king.

For Law, and apparently to Strawhat crew, Luffy was the king already. The thought scared Law, because only a week ago, his plan had been to take advantage of the Captain's pure strength but here he was acknowledging the same person as the Pirate King. 

His body throbbed with a sharp pain and he settled down to soft grass of Sunny.

Should he act with a basic logic and just give a piece of meat back?

No, idiocy of this crew was rubbing off of him.

Would he give his life for this man? Yes.

How many people would do the same? Probably the every soul that came across with Luffy.

What did it mean? It meant that Law was just one of those many. A drop in the ocean, to speak emo.

There must be something that only Law could provide the boy with. He closed his eyes and listened the night. It was still warm despite the fact that it was past midnight. His ribs, head, arms, lungs, it hurt everywhere but he was not the type to sleep them off, he couldn't sleep even if he tried because of his insomnia.

"What a burden," he mumbled to himself and was caught off guard with the soft laugh beside.

"Laying down here is relaxing but Sanji says if you fall asleep here, the grass will take over your body like it did to Zoro."

It brought a smile to Law's face. "Well, it's obvious from his head but next time make sure to ask Sanji how he's so sure about the body part."

The boy seemed to be actually considering his words before breaking into another soft, reassuring laughter. He seemed to be laughing a lot, yet not enough to the expression to get old in his face. Every time he laughed, it felt different, every single one of them was so vibrant that they immediately made the ones around him to join in it.

He created a room, and took off his own heart with a swift move.

"The most precious thing that's left from my life is this," he held the heart up. It was beating with a steady rhythm. "Not that it's tied to this world with any dream or something like that, it's precious because it's a gift from someone I loved."

"If it's going to take long, I guess I will sleep. 

Law wanted to punch him in the gut but decided to go on, "You can take it, I don't care. I didn't care when it was in Ceasar's hands either."

"I refuse."

"Refuse what?"

"To take it. You need it to live, right? Don't be stupid. If you have problems with it just give it to Chopper or Usopp. Chopper turned out to be a good doctor, after all."

“What do you mean he turned out?”

“Well, at first he was our emergency food supply, then we learned that he’s actually a doctor!”

“What about Usopp?”

“He’s good at fixing things, you can trust your heart with him.”

“Usopp-ya, huh…” He trailed off and thought about if Luffy said it for the sake of conversation or not. Maybe the sniper was successful at healing broken hearts for real.

"Hey Law,” the boy called, pulling at his sleeve. Law ignored the tug in his heart with the smooth call of his name, “I have an idea." Luffy grinned and commanded with a stern voice, "Do your mystery magic again."

Heart’s captain raised his right hand and created a room. _Mystery magic._ The younger boy awed, definitely amused with the transparent room surrounding them and shook Law’s shoulder hurriedly, "Now take out my heart too."

Law narrowed his eyes at the boy but he seemed determinate enough to challenge whatever Law would pull at him. Carefully, he placed his hand on Luffy’s chest and looked up into his dark eyes. He wondered how they managed to reflect the same warmth he felt from the skin beneath his fingers.

Without any resistance or difficulty, he took the heart out and held it gently. Taking hearts out was much easier than falling asleep for him, no matter how strong the person in front of him was. He shuddered with sudden rush of adrenaline through his body, he was holding the future within his slender fingers. 

How far will this boy go until someone squeeze this heart, squeeze it with ugly betrayal, squeeze it with just pure hate? Won’t he ever regret that he trust so easily?

His eyes were glinting playfully. Law wanted to see those lights fading down, with utter shock and regret. He wanted to teach him a lesson so that he won’t be this reckless anymore, so that he can be alert and ask himself before trusting someone: _What if…_

Rather, he watched when Luffy took hold of both their hearts and examine them closely. After lining up some boyish compliments on his devil’s fruit abilities, Luffy offered him his heart and he put Law’s heart on his own chest.  

"If I die, you die with me, right?"

Law nodded and took Luffy’s offered heart in his hand one more time. It was beating all the same, calm and steady. There was no doubt his was skyrocketing at the same time. Focusing his eyes on something was almost impossible with how excited he was. This time, his hands trembled while putting the heart on his chest.

“If you die, I will die with you,” Luffy pointed out before breaking into one last grin, "Now you won't be wanting to die any time soon, shishishishi!"  



End file.
